Shad Roe / Laitance d’Alose

If you can get it . . . Shad are found in the Severn and its affluents the Wye and the Teme. Also in the Gironde which, like the Severn, is tidal and has a bore (le mascaret). The fish are migratory. The Bordelais practice is to grill them over sarments, i.e. vine twigs. Beware, a shad is as bony as a pike. The idea that the bones will be dissolved by stuffing it with sorrel is an old wives’ tale. The primary gastronomic excitement of the shad is its roe, which is at its best just be